Tag: Necrons

Guess who’s started a new army for 40k? It’s not my fault. Honestly, blame Mat and Phil, they’re the ones who got me feeling all jealous and left out and stuff. Once Phil followed Mat down the Xenos path it was only a matter of time before I caved and followed suit, which I duly did once I finally settled on an army to collect. In our gaming group Marine players feature heavily, 4 out of 7 to be exact, so when Mat decided to actually get a 40k army to play with (after selling his Tau) he figured collecting another Xenos force would be a good idea to help break up the monopoly – such a good idea in fact, that Phil and then I decided we would start new armies also of the non-good guy persuasion to add a bit of variety and eliminate those sometimes drab Blue on Blue games. Phil has now succumbed to the Green Menace to go alongside his near 10,000 points of Ultramarines, whereas I needed something to offer an alternative to the 3000+ point Marines, Guard and Grey Knights armies I already have – but I wasn’t sure what…

The new army feeling was building as I started to consider all the various races, but I found my choice somewhat more limited than I expected. There are some I just won’t entertain – like Chaos for example. I know the whole Xenos army idea is supposed to move me out of my comfort zone but Marines with spikes stuck on them has never, ever, worked for me. Daemons lacked the things I like most in 40k – guns and vehicles, which also largely eliminates Tyranids for the same reasons. Orks didn’t appeal to me and although Necrons may have, both were already taken. The Tau were still good guys really and I’d already had an army of them in the past before selling them on, so I passed on taking them a second time. The Dark Eldar were a strong option as there were a number of units/models I really liked but in the end not enough to build an army around, so that left just one non Imperial army to choose from – the Eldar. I’ve thought about collecting an Eldar army in the past, a few times in fact, as they suit my style of play and have some fantastic models, but their unit focus and squishiness always did enough to put me off. However, the Iyanden Codex has offered me a way around this: a Ghost Warrior army! The new army feeling was well and truly buzzing now.

An all Wraith Ghost Warrior army – 2000 points in 27 models!

‘Wraith’ type units really do have some cool looking models and nothing’s better than an army that can smash faces and look good whilst doing it. To go with that, one thing a Ghost Warrior army can never be accused of being is squishy, seeing as your standard Wraithguard troops have an impressive Toughness of 6! Add in your Wraithlords and Wraithknights with their Toughness 8 and things are looking pretty solid. However, with the sheer abundance of high strength and low AP weaponry floating around nowadays, Toughness 6 is not what it used to be and a 3+ Armour Save only takes you so far. It was clear this army was not going to be a simple point and kill type outfit despite the tasty stat lines. Support would be essential but with the point costs being so very high it would be a hard balance to strike. Wraithguard are a costly 32 points each for something that’s still only 1 wound – plus another 10 if you want to give it a D-Scythe, meaning the army is going to be tiny. Like crazy tiny. Like less than 20 models in a 1k army tiny. This is great news on the painting front as even I could get a whole army finished with that few models to paint in it, but it does concern me on the tactical side of things. Phil recently stuffed almost 70 Orks into a 1k list and against a few handfuls of Wraithguard packing single shot (albeit mega powerful) guns with only a 12” range, getting overwhelmed is not only a possibility, it’s almost a certainty. They are going to need some serious rapid-firing back up, which is achievable, but breaks away a little from the pure Wraith army ideal.

The reasoning behind fielding a Wraith army in the first place is lack of manpower, so using vehicles which are piloted by just one or two Eldar to act as force multipliers makes perfect sense and opens up the tactical potential of the army – whilst still retaining its character. Including Wave Serpents is unavoidable as they’re the only transports Wraithguard can take and Warwalkers suit the aesthetic of the army as well providing the extra firepower so sorely needed – but with the Heavy Support section already looking crowded with the Wraithlords and Wraithknights taking up the slots there’s a strong possibility I’ll have to go unbound to make it work. It’s disappointing they didn’t do a bit more for the Iyanden Codex, and something as simple as bumping Wraithlords into Elites would have made a true Wraith army more achievable with a choice in each force organisation slot (If you include Forgeworlds Wraithseer HQ – want!) – Marines get to do it with Dread’s so why not Eldar? I’ll steer clear of everything else in the codex aside from the compulsory Seers – but there are a few things from Forgeworld which are really catching my eye. Wasps and Hornets look like they can provide all the extra firepower I need and both come under Fast Attack which would solve the overcrowded Heavy Support problem – letting me stay bound and qualifying for the all-important ‘Objective Secured’ rule. The trade of a 5+ invulnerable for jump packs makes the Wasps even more fragile than the Warwalkers, but it’ll be fun bouncing them around the table shooting shit up while they last – especially if there’s a Wraithknight or two doing the same. I’m still worried about get swamped by horde armies, as is always the case with small elite armies, but it’ll be interesting getting the balance of the army right between guns and bodies.

Wasp Assault Walker from Forgeworld

Painting wise, I’m undecided about whether to do the army in the yellow and blue of Iyanden as a few other colour schemes have also caught my eye. I was initially quite taken with the grey and orange of Yme Loc and as they have a rep for building titans, I thought this could translate onto my Adeptus Titanicus Eldar force. But I have since realised the colours look far better on vehicles than they do on infantry, so I’m unsure how it will look on the abundance of long limbed walking units in the army. I could always do my own thing but that might slow things down and I’m promising to get the first 1000 points painted before I go any further. Aaaahhh decisions. We moan, we wrangle, but we love ‘em really, it’s all part of that new army feeling. Expect to hear of mighty Wraith constructs stomping on stuff real soon.

Recently I read and reviewed Codex Orks and something rather strange happened. I liked it. I’ve read Codices and Army Books before and liked them but I’ve liked them in the sense that it’s a good book that contributes something to the canon and offers the player an enjoyable army to use. I liked Codex Ork in the sense that I have put my hand in my pocket and dropped some cash on an army. Nearly 1,000 points worth if I’m honest.

So what’s made a life long Imperium player suddenly start collecting the green menace? Well a few things but let’s address the most important issue first – I am not abandoning my Ultramarines. Ultramar’s fighting 1st and 5th aren’t going anywhere. Which actually brings me on to one of the main reasons for my decision to collect a new army. I’ve had my Ultramarine army in one form or another since 2004. It went from a small hobby project to pass the time to a 1k army, to a 2k army and then 3k. And then something peculiar happened and I accumulated a further 6,500 points and that was that. But the point is that The Chaps only ever play my Ultramarines. And as 3 of them also play Marines it can get a bit boring. Games are a lot of threes, then fours and then threes. Repeat.

Amusingly the thought to collect a Xenos army to make things a bit more interesting has coincided with Lee and Mat doing the same. Mat has flittered between a few army choices over the last 6 months including a Space Wolves successor, Death Guard and Tau but has settled on the Necrons. So far he’s really enjoying collecting them which is awesome.

Lee has hit on the idea of doing an Eldar Ghost Warriors army. Aside from looking incredibly cool – especially the way Lee’s planning to paint them – it will offer the entire group an interesting tactical challenge. A super elite super durable army that’s very good at killing Space Marines. Yuk. Equally facing an Ork army will cause Lee some headaches so it should be fun and japery all round.

The other reason for collecting Orks is that it’s something a bit different. Not just tactically, which is pretty obvious, but from a hobby stand points as well. Don’t get my wrong, I love the Space Marine models. The tactical squad box is probably my favourite set of models ever. But I’ve always enjoyed their cobbled together approach to war that somehow makes Orks utterly devastating. Some of the best fun I’ve had in the hobby has been helping Neil work on looted wagons. His now illegal Burna Wagon is a personal favourite with its gravity fed burna turret. You just don’t get hobby opportunities like that with the Emperor’s Finest. Not without raising a few eyebrows anyway.

The variety within the army is pretty sweet too. Aside from the piles of units available, Ork kultur allows for some amazingly varied armies. Whilst klan rivalries would be a concern fluff-wise, on the board it doesn’t matter which gives hobbyists the luxury of creating a tribe that really feels like its part of a great Waaagh. And that’s incredibly cool.

I’m opting for a Freebooterz army. This has a lot to do with the Kaptin Badruk model being awesome and my long-term affection with Flash Gitz. And not just because I get to use the word git a lot. Git. I also like the idea that they’re ostentatious and quite commercially minded. They sell their services and ships to the highest bidder and then get first dibs on the spoils. I like that some of them are organised and regimented and it’s only their selfishness that stops them from being a galactic threat. This is also suits my painting style. I don’t really like messy painting. I’m no good at it. Chipped paint work is my limit. I suspect it may be the result of painting two 3,000 point Ogre Kingdoms armies back to back for other people. That’s enough rust to last a life time. Git.

Best of all it allows me to take all the models I really like completely guilt free. Flash Gitz are mandatory, Gorkanauts and/or Morkanauts are a must and then lots of Battlewagons and the odd Dakka Jet or two. Basically an army that announces its presence from the horizon not just from the noise of its engines but from the size of its constructs.

If it’s possible a Freebooter army lacks even more subtlety that the standard Ork army as ego is allied with wealth so not only does the Kaptin in question have the biggest and best toys but wants to make damn sure that everyone knows it, especially the enemy. This does, of course mean, fairly un-Orky colour schemes. Bright colours with a fairly human approach. My plan is to draw on RPG art work of Rogue Traders and base my colour scheme on them on the basis that Freebooterz will come into contact with them on a regular basis either to trade with or attack. And they’re bound to have fancy clothing and shiny baubles. The image above rather nicely reflects my plan for the Orks, right down to the rather shiny shoes. The only challenge I have is keeping the colour scheme simple for the units as my 1k army has 61 models in it at the moment. Which is the same as Mat’s 3k list. So…yeah. And with a little points jiggery I can either fit in another character or 10 more Boyz.

The most important thing however is that I’m really excited about getting this project underway. The first units have started to arrive and that means I’ll be picking up a paint brush for the first time in far too long…and discovering all my paint has dried up most likely.

However, we’ve all agreed that we’re not allowed to go above 1,000 points until we’ve painted everything…so there’s every chance my army won’t be any bigger than 1,000 points.

More over I’m looking forward to playing some games with a completely new army. New tactical challenges and a different mindset. I’m so use to the precision violence of Space Marines I’m not sure how I’ll handle the brute, bludgeoning, violence of the Orks. I can only hope playing Neil’s army would have taught me a few things. And I’m especially looking forward to playing against his Orks as well.

We’ll be writing articles all through our journey into the realms of the Xenos about our army choices, how we’re painting them and hopefully a couple of battle reports as well.

For this post I’m handing over the reigns to #warmonger and Twitter favourite Paul Collett aka @Ozrax to review Imperial Armour 12. Enjoy.

I have never bought an Imperial Armour (IA) book, always feeling that they were stupidly overpriced and as a tight fisted git, I would not spend that much on a book. So what changed my mind? Well, I am building a Necron army and I really fancied some Forgeworld kits in my force. The new Tesseract ark and the Nightshroud bomber looked great and the rumored Tomb Sentinel sounded very scary. To use these I needed the rules, so I caved in and bought the Fall of Orpheus. I hope to talk you through the book and to answer the question is it worth spending a tad under £50 for a glorified codex?

The fall of Orpheus is the 12th book in the Imperial Armour series and looks at the fall of an Imperial sector. It is the ‘Necron’ book and its designed to allow you to expand Codex: Necron to include all the current Necron Forgeworld kits in your regular games. Rather than just any old Necrons, these are the Maynarkh Dynasty. Corrupted during the great sleep, these are a mad bunch (well, madder than most Necrons, who are all mad any way!) The Necron are pitched against the Minotaur’s Space marines and the Death Korps of Kreig (assault Brigade) with full rules for both imperial armies provided.

So what do you get for the not inconsiderable amount of money? The book is in 3 parts. First off is the fluff as you would expect and Alan Bligh, the author, has done a great job. The book talks about the fall of a sector, war on a grand scale and devastation a full-scale invasion will bring. This is not the odd tomb waking up, this is millions of warriors, in thousands of Nightsycthes. It shows the invasion of a Necron Dynasty and the Imperial attempts to save the sector.

This invasion is a brutal time and the defenders are stretched to breaking as the corrupted Necron try to kill the whole sector. The second part of the book gives you the scenarios to fight this invasion. Not only do you get the rules for the games, but you get the rules for all the planets in the sector as well. This is a great section and I love the individual planets special rules. It also suggests the type of scenery upon which games on each planet would be fought. Also included in this book are rules for both Apocalypse and Zone Mortlis games. Both are a superb and allow you play anything from small skirmishes up to huge battles, all themed to the Orpheus sector. One key feature of this book is that it has considered the new 6th edition throughout and the new rules reflect this.

Following this are the 3 army lists. While not full codices, they are comprehensive lists. They detail the full back ground and history of the 3 forces along with the special rules, unique units and wargear of the armies. They provide full rules for using them in regular 40k games as you would expect, but also stand alone rules just for themselves.

The Maynarkh Dynasty

The Necron list gives you a choice to field either a regular Necron force with the new units or a Dark Harvest (DH) list. The core changes in the DH list are the loss of the C’tan in exchange for the Maynarkh Characters. This gives you some new Wargear and you gain the Mark of the Flayer rules. These rules make your leaders less stable and present the opportunity for them to go into a berserk rage or become a Flayed one. As this is a 6th ed book, you get a warlord traits list too! This is such a positive idea and adds a lot the personality of the army. Alongside the new units are 2 new characters and new options for old units. You can now upgrade your Immortals and Lychguard to Maynarkh Dynasty. The book features all of the Forgeworld necron stuff, including the Tomb stalkers all brought up to 6th ed Standards. Also in the book is the mighty Necorn Tomb Citadel. This fortification option is a mighty addition to the Necron force. The new Realm of Battle tile is a great model and once I get my hands on one (it’s on Back order!) I’ll post some pics!

Despite the whole raft of new units and stunning new models, for me the main event in the Necron list are the sentry Pylons. The standard Gauss exterminator is staggeringly useful. At 135 points it adds some major anti-aircraft fire power. With a range of 120” and S9 AP2, and has skyfire and interceptor, you can’t hide from this fearsome gun! You can have up to 3 in unit. They are a Heavy weapon choice, Oh, and you can Deep strike if you up grade them! You can upgrade it to either a Heat cannon or the Focussed Deathray. These are both up gunned versions of the regular codex versions of these weapons. (Yes, I did say an ‘up gunned’ Deathray!) once these start appearing on the battle field, then the Necrons will rule the air.

I found the Necron section very good and I love the new units. The art work, background and rules are all well done, adding to Necrons, but not totally wrecking them. (ok, I am thin ice here and some would say that they are pretty knackered already)

The Minotaur’s and Death Korp of Krieg (Assault Brigade)

These 2 lists are not completely new, but they are brought up to 6th Ed. Both get a Warlord trait list and the histories of both are provided. The lists are very good and allow you to use the whole range of Forgeworld kits. The Death Korp list is a new variant. It allows you to field an Assault force. This force is the ‘do or die’ squad. They are sent to the toughest part of the fight and are not expected to return.

While I don’t think there is a huge amount on new stuff in either list, they are well presented and if you don’t have either of the other IA books that feature them then they are excellent. I loved the Krieg back ground as I had not read it before. The lists are both solid and I so want a small force of each now! The Krieg list in particular allows you to field all the current Forgeworld infantry for the Death Korp range. The deathriders, mole mortar and the Hades breaching drill all get the 6th ed makeover as do the 4 big artillery options. Also included are the rules for the various Imperial Navy fighters.

I liked these 2 sections, but they felt a little like an add-on to the Necron Stuff.

Overall

Is it worth the £48? Well, I think it is. The art work on the whole is great, if a little reparative sometimes. The Photos are just out of this world, as the digital work on them takes them to level of realism that shocked me. The Death Korp photos in the tunnels are great. The rules, scenarios and back ground are well done. I only noticed one rules mistake (on the Hydra entry-they missed the Sky fire rule) but that’s only a minor thing. The whole concept of the book works well and the production value is high. The bigger IA format has allowed them to create a very nice book that I will use a lot.

I would rate this book very highly. Alan Bligh should be proud of what he has written and my only issue is why did I wait so long to get an IA book?

I am off to build me some new lists and assemble my Tessarct Ark. Till then, See you across the battle table.

Yes, it’s another Imperial Armour book. And this time it’s the Fall of Orpheus. Guess how the story ends…

As usual it’s a beautifully presented book with lots of lovely background. Although I believe there’s only a couple of new units for the Necrons in a book in which they’re the main focus, so you may feel a bit cheated. And it’s £48.

That’s right boys and (statistically speaking) girls, the new Necron models are available to pre-order on the Games Workshop website. So, here’s a little but of blurb lifted from the site as well as shiny (non-blurry leaked) photos of the new models.

The majority look the tits, especially the characters although the Flayed Ones are no longer sneaky types who wear the skin of their victims to infiltrate but a bunch of mentalists who just like wearing skin. It’s probably a jealousy thing. The other sucky thing is the big silver tissue box hasn’t been updated like the rumour mill suggested. It’s a shame because the Monolith isn’t a bad model as such it just looks very dated next to all the new stuff. Of course, this isn’t to say it won’t be updated but at this point there’s nothing to suggest it will be any time soon. It looks like Necron Warriors and destroyers aren’t being placed yet either. With the utter movement away from the green Lego aerials with the new models I’d be worried about difference in style across the army but, again, time may reveal some shiny new ones…

Anyway…lookit!

Okay, we should probably start at the beginning, which, for the Necrons anyway, was 64 million years ago. Yes, you read that right, 64 million years. That’s before human beings existed, before Orks started rampaging across the galaxy, and even before the Chaos gods were born. In the grand scheme of things, the Necrons are pretty old. To command this ancient race is to lead an army of virtually immortal warriors into battle. They are implacable, unstoppable and utterly without fear. Sure, they will retreat if they’re confronted by a bad tactical situation, but essentially you’ve got an unbreakable, indefatigable army of soulless metal androids at your fingertips. Pretty cool, eh?

The other thing you’ll notice is that they tend to have a lot of very large guns. The Necrons pride themselves on having the best technology in the galaxy – they don’t need unstable plasma weapons or solid shell cannons – they’re just not good enough. They rely on gauss weapons, which can flay a person alive atom by atom, or tesla weapons, which will simply electrocute you to death with a huge bolt of lightning. Their weapons are efficient, accurate and very powerful, and there will normally be a lot of them, too. A firefight with a Necron army can only end badly (and messily).

So are they robots? No, far from it, in fact. Your basic Necron Warrior is, admittedly, little more than an automaton – their mind is programmed to obey the Overlord, but the higher up in rank you go, the more independent they become. They also become a little eccentric too, as you’ll find out next week when we take a more in-depth look at this curious race. Suffice to say, a Necron Overlord is entirely in charge of his own mind, and with thousands of years of battlefield experience (before a long nap in a Tomb World), he is a force to be reckoned with.

Imotekh is a grand strategist, perhaps the most accomplished the galaxy has ever known, and his campaigns operate not only across worlds, but across entire star systems and sectors. So impeccable are the logical patterns behind the Stormlord’s strategies that the only way a foe can truly gain meaningful advantage is to abandon all logic themselves – something that most races find incredibly hard to do (except the Orks, who remain a constant thorn in the Stormlord’s side). As Phaeron of the Sautekh Dynasty, and with over eighty Tomb Worlds under his command, Imotekh can draw upon incredible resources, for the armies of the entire dynasty are his to requisition at any time. As thousands of Necron Warriors march to war, Imotekh can be found at the forefront of the army, challenging high-ranking enemies to fight him in honourable personal combat. So far he has never been defeated, though if the Stormlord has one weakness it is that he rarely kills his defeated foes – preferring to leave them alive to suffer the humiliation of defeat (and maybe a lost limb or two).

Trazyn the Infinite is a preserver of histories, artefacts and events. In his possession are technologies and relics that are so valuable as to be priceless. Amongst his collection are the fabled wraithbone choir of Altansar, the preserved head of Sebastian Thor, the ossified husk of an Enslaver and a giant man clad in baroque power armour. In such a dangerous galaxy, Trazyn is loath to go out and explore it himself, but with so many exquisite artefacts to see and catalogue, he cannot afford to miss out. As a result he will send out substitutes of himself to do his dirty work. On the battlefield this can become increasingly irritating, as killing what appears to be Trazyn may simply be a Lychguard or a Necron Lord. Meanwhile, somewhere nearby, the real Trazyn is busy smashing his way through his foes to get his metal hands on his latest acquisition.

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Trazyn the Infinite

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1 (Unique)

Unit Type:

Infantry (Character)

War Gear:

Empathic obliterator; Mindshackle scarabs

Of all the Necron Lords, the Overlord is by far the most powerful and dangerous. At his command are uncountable legions of Necron Warriors, terrifying war machines and a vast array of devastating weaponry that could shatter entire worlds given half the chance. When he marches to war, the Necron Overlord does so with the surety of victory – he has cogitated and calculated every possible outcome in the ensuing conflict and formulated strategies to ensure that everything goes to plan. Only the most unlikely situations can outfox him and only the most potent foes have any chance of beating him in combat. Weapons glance off his armour or simply pass straight through him as he shifts in and out of reality. In return, his own attacks are brutally meticulous as he severs heads, shatters armour and pulverises his foes with every swing of his ancient blade. Should a Necron Overlord rise to the position of Phaeron, and ruler of an entire sector, then few will have the strength to stand before his might.

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Necron Overlord

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Unit Composition:

1 Necron Overlord

Unit Type:

Infantry (Character)

War Gear:

Staff of light

Transport:

May select a Catacomb Command Barge as a dedicated transport

Crypteks are members of pan-galactic conclaves of technologies whose purpose is to study and maintain the eldritch devices of their race. They are masters of dimensional dissonance, singularity manipulation, atomic transmutation, elemental transmogrification and countless other reason-defying technologies. In many ways, a Cryptek’s powers mirror those employed by the psykers of other races, but with a crucial difference; instead of using a mutant mind to channel Warp energies, the Cryptek employs arcane science to harness the universe’s fundamental forces. Such power is highly sought after by Necron Overlords, who will meet whatever demands are made by the Crypteks in exchange for their services.

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Cyrptek

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War Gear:

Staff of light

As the shock troops of the Necron army, a phalanx of Immortals will strive for victory using every tactic and stratagem at their disposal. They wear heavier armour than Necron Warriors and they can easily withstand a hail of heavy bolter fire that would obliterate a fleshier target. Should an Immortal be felled, its threat is not ended, for its auto-repair systems will set about repairing the damage to its body immediately and it will quickly return to the fray. Few foes can withstand the Immortals’ return fire so easily. A single shot from a gauss blaster can punch through most types of armour to strip flesh from bone. There can be no hiding from the Immortals.

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Necron Immortal

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Unit Composition:

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Unit Type:

Infantry

War Gear:

Gauss blaster

Transport:

May select a Night Scythe as a dedicated transport

For countless millennia, Deathmark Squads have served the Necron nobility as snipers and assassins. Even when they were beings of flesh and blood, Deathmarks had a reputation for cold-hearted precision and patience. Now, housed in tireless metal bodies, Deathmarks are more deadly than they ever were in the Time of Flesh. Like most Necrons their technology lies far beyond the realm of mortal comprehension and they can effectively slip in and out of dimensions at will. Their victims will assume that they have been ambushed, that the Deathmarks teleported onto the battlefield. The reality is that they were already there, waiting for just the right moment to lay their trap and catch their prey.

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Deathmark

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Unit Composition:

5 Necron Deathmarks

Unit Type:

Infantry

War Gear:

Synaptic disintegrator

Transport:

May select a Night Scythe as a dedicated transport

The Lychguard are the wardens of the nobility, said to be incorruptible and utterly dedicated to their charges. While most Necrons wear a basic suit of living metal, the Lychguard wear huge suits of ancient armour, the likes of which are normally reserved for the nobility. After all, what use is a bodyguard if he cannot defend his master? Most Lychguard are equipped with heavy-bladed warscythes, which they use to inflict killing blows with every strike. Some will carry hyperphase swords and dispersion shields, which are marginally less powerful, but offer increased protection to the unit.

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Lychguards

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Unit Composition:

5 Lychguards

Unit Type:

Infantry

War Gear:

Warscythe

Transport:

May select a Night Scythe as a dedicated transport

Triarch Praetorians hold a great responsibility – to ensure that the Necron dynasties never fall. When the Necron race turned to hibernation after the War in Heaven, the Triarch Praetorians chose to remain awake. Now, as the Necrons stir ever more into wakefulness, the Triarch Praetorians have also re-emerged to join the dynastic legions. They will rarely join a battle immediately, preferring to hover above the fray on gravity displacement packs before launching themselves right into the heart of the enemy army. With the devastating rod of covenant at their disposal there is very little that can survive the assault of a Triarch Praetorian.

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Triarch Praetorian

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Unit Composition:

5 Triarch Praetorians

Unit Type:

Jump Infantry

War Gear:

Rod of covenant

The flayer curse was a parting gift from the C’tan known as Llandu’gor, the flayer. Over time, those Necrons tainted with the curse suffer a slow and tortuous erosion of sanity. Where other Necrons are cold and calculating, these infected warriors begin to take pleasure in death and carnage, wrapping skin and torn flesh around them like grisly trophies. As the madness progresses their actions become even more depraved and they will feast on the flesh of the fallen despite being unable to digest or consume the flesh in any sense the blood simply seeps through the gaps in their exoskeleton and pools beneath their feet. As unnerving as this behaviour may be to other Necrons, their discomfort is nothing compared to the fear that is felt by other races when they encounter the Flayed Ones. Appearing without warning the Flayed Ones will slip into reality and begin their gory harvest, slicing their victims apart with long flensing blades that will strip flesh from bone with sickening ease.

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Flayed One

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Unit Composition:

5 Flayed Ones

Unit Type:

Infantry

The more aggressive Necron Overlords fight not on foot, but rather from the deck of a Catacomb Command Barge – an armoured, repulsor-driven skimmer. While embarked upon a Command Barge, a Necron Overlord is able to oversee the battle, ensuring that his troops are engaged with appropriate targets and that everything is going to plan. More often than not he will become bored of watching the battle and command the barge’s pilot to fly him into the midst of the action, where he can launch daring attacks on unsuspecting enemy units, his warscythe decapitating his foes as he flies past.

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Front Armour

Side Armour

Rear Armour

Catacomb Command Barge

4

11

11

11

Number:

1

Type:

Vehicle (Open-topped, Skimmer)

Wargear:

Quantum Shielding; Tesla cannon

Special Rules:

Living Metal; Sweep Attack; Symbiotic Repair

Annihilation Barges are the Necrons favoured anti-infantry support platforms. Each is armed with a linked pair of tesla destructors – enormous energy cannons that fire ferocious arcs of eldritch lightning. The tesla destructor is primarily an anti-personnel weapon, though only the most heavily armoured tanks can risk its wrath with utter impunity. Its energy discharges wreak terrible harm on living targets, searing their flesh and boiling their blood. Furthermore, the bolts will often leap from target to target before they are finally grounded, leaving a trail of smouldering carnage across a broad swathe of the battlefield.

BS

Front Armour

Side Armour

Rear Armour

Annihilation Barge

4

11

11

11

Number:

1

Type:

Vehicle (Open-topped, Skimmer)

Wargear:

Quantum Shielding; Tesla cannon; Twin-linked tesla destructor

Special Rules:

Living Metal

The Doomsday Ark is a technological wonder, easily eclipsing the primitive energy weapons of the Imperium. Even fired at low power the doomsday cannon is ferociously destructive; when firing at full effect, its searing energy beams burn many times hotter than more conventional plasma weaponry. Infantry caught in the doomsday cannon’s fury are obliterated instantly; armoured vehicles reduced to glowing slag. In the face of a shot from a doomsday cannon, nothing less than a Titan’s void shields can hope to offer anything more than a fool’s hope of protection.

BS

Front Armour

Side Armour

Rear Armour

Doomsday Ark

4

11

11

11

Number:

1 Doomsday Ark

Type:

Vehicle (Open-topped, Skimmer)

Wargear:

Doomsday cannon; Two gauss flayer arrays; Quantum shielding

Special Rules:

Living Metal

Ghost Arks are often pressed into service as conventional transport vehicles, conveying reinforcements to some vital area of the battlefield, or allowing Necron forces to attack from an unexpected quarter. The enemy’s predicament is made all the worse by the fact that Necrons deployed in this fashion are, to all intents and purposes, accompanied by their own mobile repair station, for the Ghost Ark can fix even those Necron Warriors that are too badly damaged to repair themselves. Only by destroying the Ghost Ark can the foe have any hope of victory.